Your 15k$ dream first car?

[Fazerfan]

I didnt find a thread considering about this. So whats your dream first car? People who has a first car can say what car they would buy now. The budget is 15k$ (9,6k£ 11,1k€). Remember to put the link of the car!

I am going to start:
I would buy this Honda S2000

 

[motortrend]

Well if you're talking dream first cars then I assume they are not Very logical choices so I'll go with what I remember I wanted for a first car, a 1978 carrera SC with 150k+ miles an a motor rebuild

 

[Bopop4]

A slightly used diesel Golf.
That would be awesome.

 

[Kitten]

A 240sx. Then Tune it with the rest of the money

 

[E28]

A nice E28. If the £9k includes insurance, then that would go out the window, along with everything but a lovely 1.0 ancient hatchback.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

Golf VI GTI, ~$12,570. The rest would go towards fuel and maintenance.

 

[Mark II Blit]

€10.500 is enough to buy me my father's 2000 318i 1.9 8v.
I'd be happy to buy the car to keep it from falling into the hands of degenerate tuners. Besides, it's a fun, classic Bimmer, so I want it badly anyway. The last money would go into buying and installing amber indicators to restore it to original condition.

This E46 looks exactly like his.

 

[Anathema]

Any FC RX-7. You can find ones in good condition here for ~$2500, and I actually plan on getting one very soon (or, when I get the money.)

Convertible, hardtop, NA or turbo, it doesn't matter (although I'd prefer a NA convertible.)


What would I do with the extra money? Save it, you need it in this economy.

 

[Cale]

S2000 without a doubt.

 

[Clark]

If insurance wasn't an issue.

E46 M3 (manual)

 

[Jahgee]

2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STi

 

[Pagey279]

1996 Vauxhall Corsa Vegas 1.2L. This was the first car I drove (but not technically my first car) and I wouldn't have had anything different, I have tonnes of memories of this car, all of them good, and now my best friends brother has it as his first car.

I wouldn't have a powerful RWD car as my first, not in a million years. I wouldn't want to become a statistic. How after just passing your test would you possibly be able to control 300-400bhp RWD/AWD car?
You need a car that will teach you the basics that you can't cover in your lessons or test, and a car that will help you to improve those that you do.

 

[Katiegan]

1988 Ford Fiesta XR2. Can pick them up for around £2000 these days, and they're cheap on classic insurance. Granted, once I'm 17 I probably won't be able to have an XR2, but I still want a MK2 Fiesta.

I don't want anything with stupid power or stupid size, just a little fun classic Fiesta that will manage to turn a few heads.

 

[Antonisbob]

I'm already driving my dream first car.

 

[CarBastard]

15k is actually too much for my dream first car. My dream first car is something affordable, relatively powerful (I mean 120-200 HP), lightweight, and RWD that could teach me basics of driving and good 'ol fashined mechanics: E21 BMW 320, done. If I miraculously had a bigger budget, I'd go for an E30 BMW 323i or 325. The rest of the money would go to bring it to a pretty decent condition and some go-fast goodies if possible.

But, it's impossible to be a teenage student and have a car here. Having anything remotely exciting is tremendously expensive (A Miata in average condition would set you back USD$20,000 here) and all motoring-related costs are exaggerated. My budget of US$2000-US$3000 would only get me a crappy, horribly tuned, Renault 4/9/12. For now, I'm in a similar situation as Antonisbob. It might not be MY car (It's my mum's actually) but I couldn't ask for a better first car: 1.2l 16v Fiat Palio

 

[Tornado]

C4 Corvette. Specifically, a 1993 Coupe with the FX3 suspension and transparent roof panel.

Like that, but probably blue I think. For a whole list of reasons that no one probably cares to hear in detail, but know that I've thought about it a lot.

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

Fisher Fury kit car, probably with the LeMans style bonnet, aeroscreen and a 2.0L Ford or 1.8L Toyota engine that has been tinkered with a little. Can't decide whether i'd go with a sequential or standard gearbox.

I've seen one fitted with a 4.0L V8 capable of 0-60 in 3 seconds and over 170mph for under £9,000, but that's a little overkill.

Now where's my money?

 

[CarBastard]

C4 Corvette. Specifically, a 1993 Coupe with the FX3 suspension and transparent roof panel.

Like that, but probably blue I think. For a whole list of reasons that no one probably cares to hear in detail, but know that I've thought about it a lot.

I'd like to hear in detail. Maybe because I'm bored, maybe because you caught my attention, but definitely because I like when people talk passionately about cars.

 

[Joey D]

Assuming I still have to maintain and insure the car as a 16 year old...

Dodge Neon ACR, you can get one in really excellent shape for about $5,000. Spend another $3,000 getting the Koni's rebuilt and putting some sticky tires and lightweight rims on in and you got a really sound autocross car that's cheap to own.

Plus you can get it in green...

Also when I crash it, as a 16 year old, I can go to any junkyard and get whatever part I need and then spend a few hundred bucks to have it painted.

 

[Slash]

I'm already driving my dream first car.

I'm about to have 3 of them =P

 

[SPhilli911]

2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STi

That is a freakin steal.

Hmmm why does this have the 2005 rear arches?
Edit: That is a 2005 not 04. Also has a nice dent in the bumper. Shame.

 

[masterrawad]

469 Horsepower, US manufactured so I can find the parts easily, the Ford Mustang SVT Cobra is 110% testosterone.

 

[Slash]

Mint condition 1969 Mustang Fastback for $1,500 from the ad I saw in the paper today. The rest will go into mods.

 

[ilikewaffles11]

I'd buy a 1982-1985 Toyota Supra. A good one I'd be able to find for $6,000-$8,000 which leaves the rest of the money for insurance.

 

[Zyla]

1971 Lincoln Mark III

 

[masterrawad]

1971 Lincoln Mark III

If you're gonna buy one, buy one that doesn't have dark leather seats. In the summer, it's practically a boiler in there I owned one for a few years.

 

[Patrick]

Mint condition 1969 Mustang Fastback for $1,500 from the ad I saw in the paper today. The rest will go into mods.

$1,500? Seriously?

 

[Zyla]

If you're gonna buy one, buy one that doesn't have dark leather seats. In the summer, it's practically a boiler in there I owned one for a few years.

Lucky you! I'll keep that in mind though.
Also, how'd it drive? Was it nice?

 

[TripleA5]

A 1983-1987 Pontiac Firebird. there usually around 5-7k,

 

[Tornado]

I'd like to hear in detail. Maybe because I'm bored, maybe because you caught my attention, but definitely because I like when people talk passionately about cars.

1991 had the L98 motor, so screw that. Not worth it to buy a Corvette that has less horsepower than a Camry V6 and revs like a diesel, though at the very least the '91s had the 6-speed and the newer body.

1993 had over 1992:

• Keyless entry.
• 10 lb/ft of torque 400RPM earlier, with a quieter and smoother engine.
• None of the Optispark problems that plagued the 1992 to the extent that it forced a recall.
• Wider rear tires and narrower front tires for more neutral handling.
• Improved traction control.
• One-color interior buttons instead of a black/gray combination.

1993 had over 1994 (and 1995, and 1996):

• A much, much better steering wheel. Like... the one after 1993 is an atrocious 2-spoke design, and is literally the same steering wheel that was in the Caprice but with a smaller rim.
• A nicer interior, with more supportive seats, better implemented air vents and a glovebox.
• A better looking dashboard with a side bolster that provides shade for the driver information lights, as opposed to 1994+ that have a similar design except it just stops and melts a bit.
• Better door designs, with larger grab handles in an easier spot to grab.

The only thing that really bothers me about the 1993 compared to the 1994 is that I vastly prefer the white lettering for all of the gauges and buttons rather than the yellow, but that's not something that would be too expensive I imagine.

1993 had over 1996:

• Much better damped suspension. For whatever reason, even if you bought the best handling package and the top performance package it still had suspension tuning that were equivalent to the base cars from previous years.
• FX3 adjustable suspension is much more reliable and vastly cheaper to repair than the P45 adjustable suspension that replaced it in 1996. The former was a Bilstein system originally designed for the ZR1 that they will still repair to this day if something goes wrong. The latter was a crappy Delphi system with throwaway shocks that GM put in to test the ride control option on the C5.
• There are minor changes to the '96 that look tacky, like the Testarossa brake ducts behind the front wheels which had huge scoops put on the original ones.

Only thing I'd miss from that is the LT4 engine with the higher redline and bigger tachometer from the ZR1. They also had the bigger ZR1 brakes as stock. But both of those can be fixed easily enough, and LSx swaps are becoming increasingly common for C4s too (which can chop 200 pounds off the front of the car but adds power and revs, though a '93 ZR1 would probably be a better bet at that point).





Lots of time put into thinking about this.